Oakland University’s School of Health Sciences has brought together more than a dozen leaders in health to form a new Board of Advocacy and Resource Development (BOARD), which will help support academic, research and community engagement programs in interdisciplinary health sciences, clinical and diagnostic sciences, public and environmental wellness, and human movement science.

When Robert Meyer enrolled at Oakland University in 2004, he intended to stay for a year, then transfer to another school as a sophomore. The Lake Orion, Michigan, native had spent his entire life in the metro Detroit area, and he was eager for a change of scene. But, within a matter of weeks, his attitude changed as he fell in love with OU’s campus and student-centered community. He finished all four years and is a proud Golden Grizzly.

After 10-year-old Alex VanHolder was diagnosed with a medulloblastoma tumor, his chemotherapy treatments prevented him from playing the sports he loved. Down, but not out, Alex channeled his passion for sports into cheering on the OU men’s soccer team. Now — among student-athletes, coaches and fellow Golden Grizzlies fans — he’s adoringly called “family.”

Oakland University again ranks among the safest college campuses in the nation according to The National Council for Home Safety and Security. It’s 2018 list of Safest College Campuses in America ranks Oakland second, behind only Brigham Young University, Rexburg, Idaho.

Omar Brown-El knows the challenges facing underrepresented students first-hand when it comes to getting into college, succeeding in the classroom and earning a degree. He grew up as an academically and economically challenged student in his hometown of Flint.

This month, Oakland University’s School of Education and Human Services will welcome a blended cohort of 50 Saudi Arabian teachers, principals and administrators in the Galileo-Saudi Arabia Leadership Project. Over the course of a year, the educators will learn as students, studying the ins and outs of the American school system and how strong leadership can transform their country’s educational landscape.

Oakland University offers 277 degree and certificate programs with more than 19,000 students currently enrolled. A public university situated on 1,443 acres, OU spans two thriving cities, Auburn Hills and Rochester Hills, in southeast Michigan.

Overachievers thrive at OU. Students conduct research as early as their freshman year, gain global perspectives studying abroad, compete in Division I athletics, lead student orgs, perform on stage and learn without limits.

In 1957, Matilda Dodge Wilson donated her estate to establish what is now Oakland University. The estate includes the National Historic Landmark Meadow Brook Hall, which Matilda built with her second husband Alfred Wilson from 1926-29.

Matilda was inspired by steel pioneer and philanthropist Andrew Carnegie, quoting him that she wanted to provide "ladders upon which the aspiring can rise."